• The Kremlin responded by stating that President Putin was still open to discussions intended to “secure our interests.”
• President Macron was adamant that he and Mr. Biden would never pressurise the Ukrainians to reach a settlement “that would not be acceptable to them,” and he made this clear.
• A top Ukrainian official stated that since the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24th, between 10,000 and 13,000 of its soldiers had died.

Speaking in Bucha, where Russian troops are suspected of killing hundreds of civilians in war crimes, Putin said: “A path forward built on lies is impossible. Here, crimes against humanity were committed.”

Prior to this, a top Ukrainian official stated that since the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24th, between 10,000 and 13,000 of its soldiers had died.

The casualty tolls are rarely disclosed by either Russia or Ukraine, and the Ukrainian military has not backed up Mykhailo Podolyak’s claims.

The most senior US general, Mark Milley, stated last month that since the start of the war, roughly 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded.

Mr. Podolyak claimed that Kyiv was “openly discussing about the number of the killed” in an interview with Ukrainian television station Channel 24. He continued by saying that “substantial” numbers of civilians may have been killed. Additionally, he said that since the invasion, up to 100,000 Russian soldiers had perished.

Ursula von der Leyen, the leader of the EU Commission, said that 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died in a video speech on Wednesday. A representative for the EU Commission later stated that this was an error and that the number really included both the dead and the injured. Additionally, Ms. von der Leyen mentioned the 20,000 civilian fatalities in Ukraine.

The US and French presidents promised “continued support for Ukraine’s defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity” in a joint statement following their talks at the White House. They also committed to speeding up the delivery of air defence systems and announcing plans for an international conference on Ukraine to be held in Paris on December 13th.

President Biden’s declaration that he was willing to speak with the Russian president was accompanied with a strong qualification, and his French counterpart said that they would never press the Ukrainians to reach a deal that they would not find acceptable.

After Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov protested that no meaningful offers of mediation had been made by European nations up to that point, President Macron spoke a few hours later. Adding that Russia had not received any signals through diplomatic channels, he was cited as saying, “Macron, by the way, has been routinely claiming for the previous two weeks that he was preparing a conversation with the Russian president.”

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry was mentioned by Mr. Lavrov as the type of person who had in the past been able to resolve issues and participate in genuine discussion.

Sanna Marin, the prime minister of Finland, stated on a trip to Australia that Europe needed to strengthen its defence capabilities: “Right now, Europe is not powerful enough. Without the United States, we would be in trouble.”

The Ukrainian military said that Russia was depleting Ukraine’s air defences by launching fake nuclear-capable missiles. Ukrainian military analysts claimed that Russia was employing rockets without explosive payloads intended for nuclear use, and they speculated that this may be the case due to the fact that so many of its other missiles were used in enormous attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Oleg Ustenko, a different important adviser to President Zelensky, alleged that BP was entitled to hundreds of millions of pounds in “blood money” from investments in Russia. Rosneft, a major Russian energy company, no longer makes any profits for BP, the company claimed.

According to a recent investigation, the Russian Wagner organisation of mercenaries publish dozens of movies on TikTok that celebrate violence. According to a US-based organisation called NewsGuard, the films have received over a billion views. According to Tiktok, any content that violates its policies will be dealt with.

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